Approximately 75% of homecare workers in England are not paid for the time they spend travelling from one care visit to the next, despite the fact it legally counts as working time.

 

As long as your true hourly rate of pay does not fall below the National Living (Minimum) Wage once travel time has been taken into account, your employer is legally in the clear. However, there is evidence to suggest that non-compliance is widespread and that HMRC is not taking enforcement action against homecare employers who are illegally paying their staff below the National Living (Minimum) Wage as a result of unpaid travel time.

 

In April 2024, a spokesperson for HMRC said "HMRC does not hold information on how many times HMRC has taken enforcement action against employers for the underpayment of national living wage for domiciliary care workers as a result of unpaid travel time". If an enforcement agency does not any hold records about a particularly type of enforcement action, can it be inferred that not such action has been taken?

 

As workers, we are often not made aware of the fact that the non-payment of travel time goes against working time guidance and that our true hourly rate of pay is therefore always lower than what is stated on our contract. In the example given below, we found that a member of Homecare Workers' Group was being illegally paid just £8 / hour as a result of unpaid travel time, despite their contracted rate of pay being £12 / hour.

 

In 2020, a group of ten home care workers were awarded approximately £10,000 each at an employment tribunal which found they had been paid below the National Living (Minimum) Wage as a result of unpaid travel time. There are so many more of us in the same position and often we do not even realise it.